Photo: Dan Tuffs/REX USA.It's been a trying week for modern men with a penchant for '80s eyewear.
On Wednesday, American Apparel's board of directors suspended president and CEO Dov Charney, and it plans to completely dissolve their working relationship following a month-long "cure period," reads a press release. "We take no joy in this, but the [b]oard felt it was the right thing to do," reads the statement from Allan Mayer, the board's lead independent director, who goes on to note that the action "grew out of an ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct." He doesn't specify whether the "misconduct" was of the sexual kind (and for which Charney is notorious); but, Mayer explained to the L.A. Times that "new information came to light" earlier in the year prompting a probe, adding that "a board can't make decisions on the basis of rumors and stories in newspapers," as justification for not acting sooner.
Some hard facts noticeably absent from the explanation include the company's reported net loss of $106.3 million in 2013, compared to $37.3 million in 2012, or its sale of $30.5 million in shares to offset its debts, or its recurring threat of being delisted from the NYSE MKT, the American Stock Exchange, all under Charney's watch. Interestingly, per Women's Wear Daily, American Apparel's stock increased 6.7% to 68 cents in the hour after Wall Street's opening bell rung Thursday morning. "More than 7.3 million shares traded hands," the trade notes, "well over the 2.8 million daily average for the past three months."
An L.A. Times' insider claims that Charney's "behavior problems" appear to have "involved his personal conduct with women and poor judgement." The source said: "He was totally taken by surprise, which is part of the problem... He's going to fight like hell to get this company back, but he won't succeed." Charney can likely make off with more gold lamé than one would need in a lifetime, so maybe he should just slip out the side door and run.